Study finds body odor preferences and politics are shared

People are attracted to the odor of those who share their political beliefs, according to a new study that suggests why many couples vote for the same candidate.

17.09.2014

(Relaxnews) People are attracted to the odor of those who share their political beliefs, according to a new study that suggests why many couples vote for the same candidate.

Researchers worked with a group of 146 participants who rated the body odor of strangers who leaned strongly to either the left or right of the political spectrum.

They never saw the individuals whose smells they were appraising although results indicated that mutual attraction to body odor and political beliefs go hand in hand.

"People could not predict the political ideology of others by smell if you asked them, but they differentially found the smell of those who aligned with them more attractive," says lead author Dr. Rose McDermott. "So I believe smell conveys important information about long-term affinity in political ideology that becomes incorporated into a key component of subconscious attraction."

The idea of finding affinity via 'body odor print' has given rise over the last few years to the phenomenon of pheromone parties where singles mingle with prospective mates after sniffing bags of smelly t-shirts.

The study, titled "Assortative Mating on Ideology Could Operate Through Olfactory Cues," was published in the American Journal of Political Science.